Lie about an item: Say it works fine when it sometimes doesn’t work. Say it’s in perfect condition when it has a scratch. Your customers will hate you!

Post whenever you feel like it: Make sure to leave your customers hanging around, wondering when their item is going to turn up. This makes sure they buy from someone else next time.

Let items end anytime: Few people will be around to care about your auction if it ends in the middle of the night. Why go to the trouble of working out whether auctions will end at a good time?

Don’t bother with email: Customers are just timewasters anyway. eBay businesses are supposed to run themselves! Never give informed responses to questions about your item.

Sell rubbish: Really, it’s just eBay. You can just sell any old tat from the market for a 200% profit. Let quality be someone else’s concern – I mean, really, what do they expect for that price?

Refuse to give discounts: You know what your items cost, you know what your profit margin is going to be, and you’re not going to negotiate. Remember that giving customers special deals might make them feel good and come back to you again.

Make your listings ugly: As many colours, flashing lights and animations as possible will really give those customers a headache. Write as much in CAPITALS!!!! as you can. Preferably big, red capitals. Be sure to use the fonts Impact and Comic Sans. For an extra special touch, see if you can figure out a way to add some music.

Don’t take photos: It’s such trouble, after all. If buyers are picky enough to actually want to see items before they bid on them, then screw ‘em, that’s what I say.

Write short descriptions: Be as brief as possible, and use lots of mysterious abbreviations. This obviously makes you look very cool. You can even just write the title again in the description box. Think of the effort you’ll save!

Use reserve auctions: Now, this is a fairly controversial final choice, but it really is one of the best ways to scare away your customers. They’ll see ‘reserve not yet met’, and click that ‘back’ button before you know it. Luckily, they can always bid in a normal auction for the item somewhere else.

Now that you know the ten ways to kill your eBay business, how about we explore what to do if you want to do the opposite, and make a success of it? The next email will give you ten steps to successful selling on eBay.

They also afford individuals as well as small business owners the opportunity to pick up some extra income. Stay at home Moms, retirees, disabled workers and small time entrereneurs are making small fortunes from sites like Ebay. And doing so with no website, website skills and No Investment capital to start their businesses.

Actually, a potential Ebay seller only needs a few simple things to put an item up for sale. If you’re thinking about putting an item or items up for sale on Ebay or any other auction site here are several things you’ll want to consider before you do.

1. The Going Rate or Value on the Market.

Like it or not, you’re going to have to do a little research. This will help you to arrive at a percieved value for whatever it is you’re selling. It’s cost will hopefully create a bargain for the buyer, yet still be enough to provide the seller (You) with a profit. This will be pretty much a no-brainer if you’re cleaning out the attic or garage. These types of merchandise can really create a bargain for the buyer. You collect found money and the buyer gets to afford something that they would not be willing to pay full price as new.

Depending on the item, you still may want to check out other sites having that particular item to see what kind of prices are being asked. Use all information regarding pricing wisely. Remain flexible and remember, the idea is to make a sale, not to give it away. You’ll have to find a happy medium between buyer and seller.

2. A Detailed Item Description..

Your item’s description needs to be as truthful as possible. Describe it as it actually is. Don’t try and make it into something it is not. Any flaws or imperfections should be noted. If it is in or near Mint Condition then note it as well.

3. The Photograph.

We’re not all professional photographers so you’ll have to take a few pictures before you get one suitable to depict your item in the manner you need for a sale. If you can get it clear enough and at an angle that the potential buyer can see, described in the item’s description, you stand a very good chance of making the sale.

4. The Seller’s Requirements.

It is an essential thing for the seller to state his or her payment requirements. It’s best for the sellers to include everything especially the additional charges that will apply like shipping fees.

You’ll not want to leave anything to chance. Spell out everything. How you want to recieve payment, how much are the shipping costs, will the seller or buyer pay them, is a deposit required, when will item be shipped and so forth. I’m sure you get the idea. Surprises after the sale are unsettling and lack professionalism.

5. Customer Service.

Customer Service is not rocket science. If you just treat people the same way you’d want to be treated, you can’t go wrong. Answer all emails or phone calls, be helpful and courteous, and as they say, a happy buyer makes a happy seller.

Step 1: Identify your market. Take a while to sit and watch for what sells and what doesn’t out of the items you’re interested in. Any market research data you can collect will be very useful to you later on. You’ll probably see the ‘sweet spots’ quite quickly – those one or two items that always seem to sell for a good price.

Step 2: Watch the competition. Before you invest any money, see what the other sellers in your category are up to, and what their strategies are. Pay special attention to any flaws their auctions might have, because this is where you can move in and beat them at their own game.

Step 3: Find a product: Get hold of a supplier for whatever it is you want to sell, and see what the best rates you can get are – don’t be afraid to ring round quite a few to get the best deal. If the eBay prices you’ve seen are higher than the supplier’s, then you’re set.

Step 4: Start small: Don’t throw thousands at your idea straight away – get started slowly, see what works and what doesn’t, and learn as you go. Remember that it’s very cheap to try out even the craziest ideas on eBay, and who knows, they might just work!

Step 5: Test and repeat. Keep trying different strategies until you find something that works, and then don’t be ashamed to keep doing it, again and again. The chances are that you’ve just found a good niche.

Step 6: Work out a business plan: A business plan doesn’t need to be anything formal, just a few pages that outline the market opportunity you’ve spotted, your strategy, strengths and weaknesses of the plan and a brief budget. This is more for you than it is for anyone else.

Step 7: Invest and expand: This is the time to throw money at the problem. Buy inventory, and start spending more time on your business. Set a goal number of sales each week, increasing it each time.

Step 8: Make it official: Once you’ve made a few thousand dollars worth of sales, you should really register yourself as a business. Don’t worry, it’s not expensive or hard to do – a lawyer is the best person to help you through the process.

Step 9: Automate: You’ll probably find that you’re writing the same things again and again in emails or item descriptions. This is the time to give up on the manual method and turn to automated software that can create listings for you, and respond to completed auctions and payments with whatever message you provide.

Step 10: Never give up: Even when it looks like it’s all going wrong, don’t stop trying until you succeed. If you keep working at it then you’ll almost always find that you make a real breakthrough just when things are starting to look desperate.

Once you get into the swing of things, you might start thinking that you should quit your job and take up eBay selling part time. But it’s not always as easy as that – there are all sorts of factors that you need to consider. The next email will weigh up the case for and against taking up eBay full-time.